Reminder: gMaps Pro free on Friday

While gMaps Provanished from the Marketplace a few weeks ago, it's back but with a slight snag. After dealing with copyright issues and re-branding/updating things, the app was restored to the Windows Phone Marketplace as a new submission. This basically means that if you had previously purchased gMaps Pro, you won't be eligible for any future updates without re-purchasing the app.

To ease the pain of the situation and to celebrate the Marketplace reaching 100,000 apps Alexey Strakh, gMaps Pro's developer, will be offering gMaps Pro (regularly $1.99) as a free app for tomorrow (Friday, June 8th) only.

We have to tip our hat to Alexey for trying to make the best of a not-so-good situation. For those who purchased gMaps Pro before it was removed, nows your chance to get the current version. This will enable you to stay current with all the updates as they become available without the need to re-purchase the app. Everyone else... you get a heck of a deal on a nice mapping app.

You can find gMaps Prohere at the Windows Phone Marketplace. We aren't sure when the pricing change will kick in so if you don't see it right away on Friday, check back later.

Finally got it for free, bing map is pure garbage outside of US and Europe. Apple is an insolent to think that they can do well without Google map. Google map is still the best for international travellers.

Finally ! !
For those of you who wonder why:
I spent 4+ hrs driving this AM in "new to me" neighborhoods and snakepit highways with only the nokia / bing default maps. It was awful. Phone (post "blue" update) kept losing data connection, & would not reliably pick up or sync with the GPS signal. Then recentered on nearby cell towers, not using GPS data. (Cold restart did not help.) And, despite being on the car charger the whole time, the battery dropped continually from 100 to 38%. As the power dropped, the charge / discharge fluxuated and the phone went repeatedly into power saving mode. Overall awfull.
(Note, my N L 900 gets flakey when the charge drops much below 3.8 volts, ~55% charge.)
Now, with gMaps, I am reminded how much I prefer the google maps. Yes, it is a matter of personal choice, tainted by a few years of google maps on the Tilt & Tilt 2.
After a couple days I'll let you know whether the nokia / bing map problems were phone / update related, or whether the newly restored gMaps really works.
So, try them both & use whichever you prefer.
(BTW, I see no reason to use a paid version. All the features I need seem to work OK to well on either of these, even spoken directions over the car radio . . .)

They did this with ConnectMe reduced from $5.99 to $.99. And that took awhile to go through. (and i still don't know how to use it, I wanted to support the developer. Since the same thing happened to them.) Don't complain, when it's free it's free. Be happy you at least know about it. And if you miss it now it's your fault.

Funny how people feel entitled to free apps that they would normally pay for just cos the app devs are being nice (except those that paid for it initially). If you think it's worth it and can't wait then pay for it.

I think all of you are forgetting that it could be based on a certain time zone, it's 5:40pm GMT right now, but that's still only 9:40/10:40am in PST/PDT. The devs have said it'll be free today and I'm sure they're sticking by that, so just have some patience instead of being ungrateful sods who expect to get everything for free.

The comments here are sickening..... These Devs work very hard on this app and really listen to their users. The app hub can be painfully slow at times. These guys are NOT jerking your legs. I paid for this app with it's previous version for latitude support and it's been a great app. Please have some patients.

Omg! U again! As I said to your first "ha ha gotcha" - u need to be shot for doin this! Can't u see the potential MS riot lingering in the cyber air....id think twice before doing this a third time my friend! =]

it's sad to see the most comments on this than any other article. But it should give the developer some joy to see how many people want this app again. Like I said before just check the download link that's all. I'll wait.. You have to remember it takes awhile for it to go through.

Reading and scrolling through so many comments here. I thought I'd offer a suggestion to the next update to the WPCentral App. If it's possible to add a clickable link that says scroll to bottom of comments so you can see the last one and not have to scroll through sometimes 80+ comments. That would be appreciated. Also I'll get this app when it is free, they said it would be just be patient. It always takes time to go through didn't anyone pay attentions to what happened with I'm an WP Extras.. It just takes a little bit just keep checking the download link here not posting numerous comments.

There is noone to blame cauze there are some how to put this...lets say standards how are things done.If it says that it will be free it will be free.Its not so easy to say yay bling and now its for free...its like you dont understand how things work and how things are in such a big companies as MS...

The point is this app has been advertised as being free for 1 day (Friday. 24hrs )
If this is the case then it should be free on the day in each time zone at not when they feel like it.
It may only be $2 but alot of people have already paid for this before it was pulled, and the reason it is free so those already paid won't have to pay again.

Guys don't blame this apps developer by giving it a low rating....its a really gud app....so to whom we can blame for this whole thing its MS market place support ppl or MS itself.....bcoz they r responsible for this delay

Now this is a pointless debate...lol if you are happy with Bing maps or Nokia maps...well be..it is your free choice...but remember that for example here in Slovakia Bing maps are no use to people and they got a lot of issues with them and not everyone has got a Nokia with their maps to cover their needs so this is a good option for them and since its free, well even more better...and omg its only 2 euros or dollars or whatever if you want that app and you wanna support the man behind this all trouble of bringing them to WP then just be patient or quit crying and buy them...

I would imagine it's the same people, really. So they are being ridiculous twice. If I were a developer, I would think twice about doing something like this again. People are forgetting that he is giving away his paid app for free and now seem to think it is their right to have it...

You mean the people who dont ALREADY have it need to remember this - the ones that do and would otherwise have to buy it AGAIN don't! Its the least he can do - im not paying him twice! Have u seen the gas prices in California?

Hey - marketing/advertising is part of the product and who says that the star sysyem is to be used strictly for rating the level of performance satisfaction? Why wouldn't it include the WHOLE PACKAGE from advertising to performance?

Does gMaps Pro integrate with the calendar and offer me a "Get directions in gMaps Pro" or does it give me directions to my next appointment, or what is it that a mapping app needs access to my appointments for?

Thank you all for telling us every 10 minutes or so that the app is not yet free -_-
Price changes have to propagate to all markets and may take a while. Depending on Microsofts mood, this can happen in the course of a few hours or a few days. In the case of the luqid daffodil freebie a few days back, it took MS almost 48hours to propagate the price changes.
So: Patience is A Virtue

Can the developer directly make these changes ? Like whether or not the app has to be free , and changes reflect in marketplace right away ?
or
He has to submit the changes to MS and it takes some time to be effective?

I m still asking why gmaps changed his appid and not simply the name, if there really were google copyrights problems...
If u change the appid, users have to rebuy the app, as happened !! In my opinion google did not asked anything, it simply was a the developer publishing mistake (I hope...), he now wants to compensate this error setting his app free.
Hope the author can explain here ;)

It's already been explained in the WPC article that came out few days ago, and you can find further details on the developer blog... It's actually MS fault and not his. They deleted his app due to the copyright complaint and he had to resubmit it as a new app.

Bing maps are garbage no matter what the M$ fanboys might tell you. Some of you are simply pathetic, hating Google for no particular reason. WP7 is good but it could defintely use good apps and services to make it better.